The key facts

  • An MSF staff member was injured by a slingshot stone during a settler attack on October 15 in the southern West Bank
  • Al-Baidar: 20 families left the Ras al-Ahmar community, and 27 more families face eviction by Friday
  • MSF links the incident to a broader strategy of restricting access to medical care and movement

Attack on MSF staff member

The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a statement on Monday evening condemned the 'escalating violence, indiscriminate intimidation and insecurity' that Palestinians face from Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. According to the organization, on the evening of October 15, settlers 'violently attacked' one of its staff members, hitting him with a palm-sized stone using a slingshot during a 'targeted attack' on his village in the southern West Bank. The man required immediate medical assistance.

Situation in the village

The injured staff member said that first about 20 settlers came down from nearby hills to attack residents, and then more arrived — armed with batons, rifles, stun grenades and slingshots. MSF stressed that 'this incident is not isolated': according to the organization, in recent months Palestinians in the Hebron governorate and other parts of the West Bank have faced growing violence, intimidation and insecurity.

Obstacles to medical care

The organization reported that an ambulance was unable to reach the scene due to dirt roads: the injured man had to be driven in a private car to meet an ambulance, after which he received treatment at a clinic and then at a hospital. 'The violence our colleague faced, the obstacles to accessing medical care, and the increasing restrictions on Palestinian communities are not accidental,' MSF stated, describing this as part of a strategy that undermines people's safety and restricts their movement, access to healthcare, and ability to live with dignity.

Displacement in the Jordan Valley

Separately, the human rights organization Al-Baidar reported that attacks by the Israeli army and settlers forced 20 Palestinian families to leave the Bedouin community of Ras al-Ahmar in the northern Jordan Valley. According to the group, 27 remaining families were under threat of eviction by Friday. The organization warned that restrictions preventing water and animal feed from being delivered to the community are worsening living conditions and threatening residents' ability to meet basic needs and maintain their livelihoods: many residents rely on livestock as their main source of income.

Context

Since October 2023, attacks by the Israeli army and settlers against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank have intensified and include killings, arrests, displacements, home demolitions, bulldozing of land, and settlement expansion. According to official Palestinian data, about 750,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 194 illegal settlements and approximately 400 settlement outposts.